Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) walks off the field after he fumbled during the first second on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Ford Field in Detroit.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)

Matthew Stafford had two more fourth-quarter turnovers Sunday, including a fumble that led to Todd Gurley’s game-clinching touchdown. Neither turnover was completely Stafford’s fault — his late interception was just a lob to the end zone — but Stafford has to be more secure with the ball. He completed just 20 of 33 passes for 245 yards Sunday, and nearly threw another pick on the opening drive of the third quarter. He’s clearly ailing; he got twisted up on a sack early in the game. And he deserves credit for carrying out a gameplan that had the Lions in the hunt throughout. But the Lions can’t win if he doesn't play better.

Grade: C-minus

Running backs

LeGarrette Blount ran for 61 yards on 16 carries, but he had just 11 yards in a sluggish first half. Blount showed good vision on his 24-yard run, and Zach Zenner had a nice 7-yard scamper in the high red zone. Theo Riddick had a mixed day. He and Stafford botched a handoff play in the first half that led to Stafford keeping the ball, and Riddick missed a blitz pickup on one of the Rams’ four sacks. He broke a John Johnson tackle after catching a third-quarter slant to get a first down and had 32 yards rushing, a season-high.

Grade: C

Wide receivers/tight ends

The Lions don’t have enough weapons at wide receiver with Marvin Jones injured and Golden Tate gone, so they played prominently out of their two-tight-end set Sunday. Luke Willson made a great block on Riddick’s 11-yard run and was out front on Zenner’s lone carry, but he did get beat by Dante Fowler when Blount lost 5 yards on a first-and-goal play. Levine Toilolo had 90 yards receiving, which was 50 percent more than he had all year entering the game. He got caught up in a jam on a third-and-8 play in the second quarter, though, when Stafford whistled a first-down conversion right past his hands. Kenny Golladay had just three catches on eight targets, but he showed some promise as a defensive back, breaking up a potential pick by Troy Hill. TJ Jones had a costly offensive pass interference penalty that nullified a touchdown.

The Lions had a rough day of it up front against the best defensive tackle tandem in the NFL. They allowed four sacks and 11 quarterback hits, and the starting five offensive linemen committed six penalties. Graham Glasgow opened a big hole on Blount’s 9-yard run to start the day, but he committed two penalties and Aaron Donald split a double-team by Glasgow and Kenny Wiggins to force Stafford’s fumble. Donald blew past Frank Ragnow to throw Blount for a 1-yard loss early, and he did the same to Wiggins to stop Riddick for a 3-yard loss late in the first half. Donald beat Wiggins for his first sack on a play that Stafford has to do a better job of climbing the pocket. On a bright note, the pass protection at the tackle spots was solid.

Grade: D

Defensive line

Ziggy Ansah and Devon Kennard did a nice job pushing the pocket early before Kennard left with a hip injury in the second quarter. Ansah was called for a personal foul for a low hit on Rams quarterback Jared Goff in the fourth quarter. Romeo Okwara dropped a would-be interception inside the Rams’ 15 in the fourth quarter, though he had a nice pressure on a third-and-10 screen before halftime. Defensive tackles A’Shawn Robinson and Damon Harrison made some big run stops early, including when Robinson shed two blockers to stuff Gurley in the red zone. But Harrison (a team-high seven tackles) got knocked over on Gurley’s game-clinching touchdown run, Da’Shawn Hand drew a costly illegal hands-to-the face penalty that dug the Rams out of second-and-20 and Gurley finished with 132 yards rushing.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is slow to get up after a tackle by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald during the second half on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions running back LeGarrette Blount runs the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford looks to pass against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia pats Taylor Decker on the head while on the sidelines during the second half on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Linebackers

The linebackers, of course, share in the blame for Gurley’s big rushing day, though the Lions defense held its own against the NFL’s best offense overall. Christian Jones (six tackles) couldn’t get off a block on Gurley’s first touchdown run, but he flashed some coverage ability early when he blanketed Cooks on a route down the visiting sideline on Goff’s first incompletion. Jarrad Davis took a bad angle on Gurley’s 15-yard jaunt in the first quarter, and he and Darius Slay missed tackles on a 7-yard run by backup Malcolm Brown in the second quarter. Kennard just missed a sack on a play that ended in a pass downfield to Robert Woods. Kennard’s replacement, Eli Harold, had a sack on third-and-15 in the fourth quarter, but like Okwara dropped a potential interception for touchdown.

Grade: C

Defensive backs

Quandre Diggs had a nice day with six tackles, two pass breakups an interception and a pair of big hits that got the Ford Field crowd riled up. Darius Slay gave up Goff’s lone touchdown pass to Robert Woods in the second quarter, when the Lions’ lack of pass rush did him in. Slay also was called for a pass-interference penalty on the opening drive, and got stiff-armed on Gurley’s 21-yard run. Nevin Lawson was flagged for defensive holding, and Glover Quin missed a tackle when Gurley ran for 36 yards on third-and-3 to ice the game, but the Lions held Goff to just 207 yards on 17 of 33 passing.

Grade: C-plus

Special teams

Matt Prater made three more field goals, running his streak to 14 consecutive makes. The Lions got good punt rush out of Ansah, the first time I can recall them using him in that role all season. Sam Martin didn’t send his first onside kick far enough, when the Lions tried to catch the Rams off guard (and would have recovered the ball with a better kick), but he netted 44.7 yards on six punts without a touchback. The Lions appeared to have just 10 men on the field on one Greg Zuerlein field goal, when Mike Ford ran off the field thinking he was an extra player.

Grade: B-minus

Coaching

It wasn’t the most exciting of gameplans, but the Lions did what they could to give themselves a chance in the fourth quarter for the second straight week, only to succumb to turnovers again. Offensively, the short-handed Lions kept the gameplan mostly conservative with two trick plays mixed in. They used Joe Dahl (at fullback) and Tyrell Crosby as extra offensive linemen freely, which helped set up a touchdown pass to Taylor Decker. And defensively, the Lions stifled the Rams’ high-powered passing attack and kept Gurley relatively in check until late in the game. I thought the Lions were too conservative on a couple of second- and third-and-longs, and the onside kick attempt was incongruous with their conservative approach, though to their credit the look was there. As low a percentage kick as the onside has become, the Lions probably should have kicked deep on their second onside attempt, though the only thing that impacted was the betting line as the Lions didn’t get the one stop they needed.